Replacement
by munchin munchkin
Summary: "Bart." He said as quietly and gently as possible. "What's wrong?" Bart closed his eyes; afraid of giving more away. Every part of him looking like it wanted to run, but Dick held him fast. "I…" He bit his already swollen lip. "I don't want to be a replacement for Wally."


**A/N: **Prompt given by **sword slasher**. Dick Grayson/Bart Allen. Nightwing/Impulse. Bart is 16 in the non-flashback sequences. Dick is 20/21.

I'm working on the other prompts I've gotten, but this story pretty much wrote itself. Love it when that happens. :^)

PM me or leave the prompts in the reviews that you want to read.

* * *

Tired eyes watched the last of the candles flicker and die. He would have to clean up all the wax they left behind, not to mention the remnants of a mostly eaten dinner and all those flower petals.

A murmur and then a shiver came from the auburn head tucked under his chin. Dick smiled softly as he pulled the comforter up over Bart. Even if it was a special day for them, it didn't matter to the rest of the world and Bart had an early morning tomorrow.

'_Or today.' _Dick thought as he glanced at the digital clock that glowed 2:25 AM. No matter how tired he was, he could never sleep for longer than one or two hours at a time. Wally always chided him for it by saying that it was unhealthy and unnatural. He thought a lot of things Dick did were unhealthy and unnatural. He wondered if saving the world was one of them.

The warm arms around him tightened for half a second, like the one they belonged to knew he was in distress. The soft smile returned and Dick weaved his fingers in Bart's soft hair, pressing a light kiss to his forehead.

Bart never judged him the way Wally did. He supported Dick the way he thought Wally always would, only quieter, stronger, and with total faith.

It was one of many of the ways that the two speedsters differed. Wally might have been his best friend when they were young, but that friendship was the kind that grew from opportunity, not genuine compatibility.

The Flash and Batman worked a lot together, meaning that Robin and Kid Flash would too. Dick never had much experience being friends with other kids in the same community and being friends with Wally was a lot like being friends with your parent's friend's kids just because they were there. He blamed it on being born and partly raised in a traveling circus and then the double life he had to learn to live immediately after.

Wally would laugh at his jokes, but he never understood them. (Even Conner got the whole point of being whelmed or feeling the aster.) The red head would dance around knowing Dick's real identity, but it was mostly because of the fact that no one else did and it made him feel special. Dick remembered loving and then hating the fact that even though Wally was older, he would act like a little kid a lot of the time. Mostly to get girls with some weird "little brother" routine or just to try and get along with him as though he was forcing Dick to act his age when Wally knew just how much he went through in his short life.

Bart wasn't like that at all.

Dick remembers the first day he showed up. The alarms, the readings, the lightening, all leading up to an unexpected surprise. Even after three years, the memory and the security footage still pull a smile from his face.

* * *

_Nightwing braced himself for the unknown enemy that had made their way passed all the cave's defenses. He took position in front of the two smaller members of the team, ready to block them from any attack from the machine that had appeared in front of them._

_The door opened and a figure could be seen inside. The million thoughts on aliens and enemies flew through his mind were cut short when red hands reached to each side of the doorway. Nightwing's grip on his escrimas tightened when a blur of a boy was crouched on the ground only to pop up, arms wide, in an unexpected "TADA!"_

"_INTRUDER ALERT. INTRUDER ALERT."_

_Nightwing lowered his weapons, trying to shake off the shock that filled him at the sight of this little boy in his red and white suit. "Computer, lock down the cave." The boy didn't look like too much of a threat, but he needed to get control of the situation._

"_Well, I think we found our unknown energy impulse." Gar said sarcastically, no doubt just as shocked as the rest of them at the intruder._

"_Impulse? That's so crash!" The boy said suddenly. "Catchy, dramatic, one-word-" he disappeared from Dick's view "like Nightwing-" a voice sounded from his side, a familiar speedster wind hitting him and then rushing right past "and Robin-" zip "and Beast Boy! 'Cept that's two words. Blue Beetle's two words. Hey! Is he here too?"_

_He turned into another red blur that they could barely follow to the exit of the main room. "Never mind, Impulse can find that out for himself!" _Impulse _declared, striking a cheesy pose before rushing off leaving echoes of a laugh much like the ones Dick used to leave behind himself._

"_You two," Nightwing called to Robin and Beast Boy "take him down. Now!" He watched as they rushed off after the intruder leaving Nightwing with only one thought. "We're crash?"_

* * *

Dick knew that Bart was going to be more trouble than any of them could have bargained for at that moment. He was smarter than he let on if the shower and napkin traps he led Gar and Tim into were any indication. To this day, Dick wasn't sure if he really caught Bart off his guard or if it was really part of his plan.

A light snore turned into deep breathes as the Bart below him shifted closer to him. He was practically lying on top of him now, not that Dick was complaining. A speedster blanket is the warmest one he has yet to find.

Yeah, Bart wasn't like Wally at all. Bart played with words more than Dick ever did. They even invented a secret language the two of them used whenever they were around the League, team or the Flash family.

Even though his identity wasn't really top secret, Bart didn't care. _"The whole secret identity thing is so retro."_

Bart was also very mature for his age. He knew how to act like a kid and helped bring out the kid that Dick thought he outgrew. There were times where Bart would turn around and be so mature, it nearly blew Dick away.

He frowned at the knowledge of the maturity being the result of a childhood harsher than his own.

* * *

"_What happens in the future?"_

_The 15 year old auburn boy jumped, whether it was from the question or Dick's sudden appearance, he wasn't sure._

"_I already told you guys what happened. Well Blue did, but I confirmed it. You know, Reach apocalypse, everything's moded, skies of ash. 'Sides, we won, so it's all crash. What more do you want to know?" Bart shrugged; going back to homework Dick was sure he already finished an hour ago._

"_You told us the big stuff. I'm asking about what happened to you." He noted the tension that threaded Bart's frame. "Your past in the future. You never told us your story, Bart."_

_Bart put the pencil down and closed his books. "It doesn't matter." He whispered. "We crashed the mode. That future isn't gonna happen now." He slid off of the stool and past Dick. "None of it matters anymore."_

_The face Bart showed him when Dick grabbed his shoulder nearly broke his heart. It was a look of a kid who lost everything for the greater good. _

"_It matters because it made you who you are, Bart. It's your history. I get it if you don't want to talk to me, but I think you should open up to someone."_

_He turned to leave when a trembling hand reached for his arm. "No…I'll talk with you. You're probably the only one who would understand anyway. Just…" Nervous green eyes glanced around the watchtower kitchen. "Not here. Okay?"_

_Dick gave the boy a reassuring smile. "Sure. Where do you want to go?"_

* * *

They went to the Garrick's that day. Dick had suggested a diner or a buffet, but Bart said that he wasn't hungry. Turns out that food wasn't always available in the future and most of what was spiked with the additive they found two years earlier. If it wasn't for the inhibitor collars they kept on everyone keeping his metabolism at bay, Bart would have died of starvation in five days, two from dehydration.

They spent hours talking about everything. Bart told Dick about having to watch his father die while trying to protect him and how he had to leave his mother behind years before he went back in time. Bart started tearing up at this point, speaking in hiccups until the history became a little less personal.

He talked about learning about the deaths of the League and most of the team. How Wally was forced to become Flash, only to die a few years later, how he became Batman and took on a new Robin when Tim went missing. Bart even told him how he died following a lead to Tim's whereabouts, only for it to be a trap. He learned it all from the fourth Robin, who he refused to name for the sake of the time-stream.

Jay and Joan came home around then. They were out on a date and seemed shocked that Bart brought someone home. Dick learned that he rarely did, whether they were from school or the Team. Bart never knew if changing the future would erase him or not, so he never made any friends in his civilian life, although he did accidentally become the most popular boy in school.

Bart smiled for the first time that day while telling his story of somehow charming and rejecting every girl then ticking off every boy and all without meaning to. He came out unscathed in the all-school brawl only thanks to his super-speed.

* * *

"_I had no idea why everyone was so mad at me." Bart laughed as they sat on the back porch long after the sun had set. "You know, that was the first fight I ever really won. Thought that my first day in the past would have been it, but then you beat me." He smiled widely at Dick, infecting him with his pearly whites. He almost missed when it died into a frown as Bart pulled his knees to his chest._

"_Never won a fight in the future." Solemn eyes glued at an unspecific patch of grass. "The Reach had me beat and everyone else was a slave like me." Bart tucked his head into the crook of his knees, hair falling to cover the rest of his face._

* * *

His arms moved to bring the freckled body higher on the bed, laying Bart's head onto the pillow beside him. Dick's hand cupped the younger one's cheek in memory of that day. It was the day that he became closer to Bart than he ever expected to. He didn't fall in love, not right away, but the strength and sadness projected by the boy was too familiar, too much like his own when he was that young. He fell day by day. It was hard not to with the two of them hanging out much more after that.

After a month, Bart had convinced him to tell his own sad tale. They sat next to each other on a hill overlooking an old drive-in movie. Bart was unnaturally silent throughout the whole thing. It was only when they got Dick's insecurities did he speak up.

* * *

_Dick's eyes blankly followed the woman on the colorless screen as she puttered around the old house. She was going to die and there was nothing he could do to save her. There were a lot of people he couldn't save. A nudge from his side brought his attention back to the reason why he was there._

_Bart was still in the dim light from the movie, legs spread out onto the blanket they brought. He cocked his head cutely at Dick, wondering why he stopped so suddenly._

"_Sorry…I just…bad memory." He offered lamely. _

"_About what?"_

"_A training exercise." Dick paused to take a deep breathe. "It was supposed to be a failure test where no matter what we did, things always got worse. Everyone died right in front of me and I couldn't save them." _

_Fingers touched his, he didn't look at their source. "Soon, it was just me and Wally, dying to save the world." Dick ignored the flinch Bart gave at Wally's name."It made me realize that I didn't want to be The Batman. I always expected to, but I just didn't want it. I know you said that I do eventually, but I honestly hope I never have to."_

_Bart laced his fingers with Dick's, taking in every word that was said.  
_

"_You do." Bart whispered, making Dick's heart stop. _

"_You do become Batman, but that doesn't mean you have to be like Bruce." He turned to look Dick in the eye. "You aren't Batman, but you will be, but you won't be like him. Even though it was for only a few years, you were a better leader than both the Batman and Superman combined. Everyone looked up to you; the leader of the rebellion. Your research was the base of the time machine blueprints." Bart's other hand had somehow ended up on Dick's knee; he was leaning in a little more with every word. "I wouldn't be here without you."_

_Bart kissed him._

_Dick didn't really know how it happened. Suddenly there were warm lightly chapped lips on his, moving ever so slightly. Bart pulled back for a moment, eyes half-lidded and a little dazed, but Dick could see the hesitation and fear building in them. He thought Bart might try to run. He stopped him._

_Dick tangled his free hand into the hair on the back of Bart's head and gripped the hand in his tighter. Their lips met again, but this time on Dick's terms. The kiss wasn't hot and needy like he thought it would be, but it wasn't sweet and gentle either._

_Dick's lips took Bart's bottom one and sucked before letting it go and watching it swell. He almost smirked at the way the younger boy puffed lightly against his mouth, but decided to wait for the clarity to return to his forest green eyes. The fog within them cleared and where Dick was expecting shock or joy, he only saw fear. _

"_Bart." He said as quietly and gently as possible. "What's wrong?" Bart closed his eyes; afraid of giving more away. Every part of him looking like it wanted to run, but Dick held him fast._

"_I…" He bit his already swollen lip. "I don't want to be a replacement for Wally."_

* * *

Dick's heart squeezed at the memory. He never once considered Bart a replacement for Wally. They were on entirely different levels in his mind.

Wally had been labeled as his best friend, but was often oblivious to his plights. He never noticed the sadness that Dick felt when he was put in charge of missions, even though the others did.

Bart was always aware of everyone and everything. He would leave cupcakes for Cassie and Tim after they had a fight, the ones for her were decorated with little smileys and hearts while his had little Timmy tombstones as a warning.

He often stole Jaime's Chicken Whizzies, but wouldn't eat them till the Beetle returned, trying to elect a game of chase and distract the overworked hero from his day. Bart would sit with Gar during his lessons, knowing how much the green boy loved and hated them. He even lost to Lagann in video games, knowing that little victories were important to the Atlantean.

Whenever Dick wasn't feeling the aster, Bart would wait for him in his apartment and somehow always have a hot meal waiting for him. Other times he would simply stand by him, waiting for Dick to open up. Bart always knew what to do.

The sun came peeking through the crack of the sheer curtains Barbra forced Dick to put up, squarely hitting Bart's eyes. His brows furrowed and a pair of bleary green opened to meet alert cerulean.

"Morning." Bart's voice had deepened considerably since he arrived, but it was always raspy when he wakes up.

"Morning." Dick pressed a kiss to his forehead, feeling the smile against his chest.

"What time is it?"

"6:40, don't you have school in an hour?"

"I'll make it. Haven't been late yet!" A wide sleepy grin grew his sparsely freckled face as he reached above him to stretch the matching back before slipping out of bed.

"You want to eat in or go to the diner down the street?" Bart loved beating their 7 lb. waffle challenge. The owner didn't like him, but the cooks sure did.

"Let's eat in. I'll make some breakfast while you sleep for another half hour." Dick sat up in protest, but was cut off. "I know you didn't sleep for more than 4 hours. You have an early shift down at the station, so try to catch at least 30 more minutes." Bart sauntered around the bed to the side Dick slept and gently pushed the older man down back into the sheets. "I'll make French Toast!"

Dick smiled as he closed his eyes and felt a feather soft kiss pressed to them before the sound of his bathroom door closing reached him.

"Looking forward to it."


End file.
